Most Helpful Positive Review

Jul 17, 2008

I have since made this 3 times and found the trick to perfecting this the second time around! Here's my recommendation for "authentic" homemade horchata: put 1 1/3 cup rice in the blender - add about 2 cups of water and 2 cinnamon sticks and blend until the rice and cinnamon are roughly ground. Add the remaining water and blend thoroughly. Pour into a pitcher and place in the refrigerator to soak (overnight is best) - or at the very least 4-5 hours. Strain the mixture through a sieve. I doubled the amount of milk called for - and about half the sugar (a generous 1/3 cup as I like my horchata not too sweet) and a generous splash of vanilla. PERFECTO!

Most Helpful Critical Review

Jan 20, 2008

I had to really change this recipe to fit my taste...This one is way too watery and the cinnamon did not mix well..from now on I will always use cinnamon sticks to soak in the rice water. Also it doesn't even make enough to fill a pitcher, so I added like 3 times the milk (because I like it thick)and also very important...I ground the rice a LOT because I like it a little gritty....it just depends how you like your horchata...I like mine rich and thick....if you do too add more milk and ground the rice a lot and it will turn out good...you can still use 1 cup of rice to start off with and adding more milk makes it soo good!

wonderful! I used my coffee grinder to grind up the rice before soaking because my blender is broken and the food processor didn't do the trick. It worked great. Also I made a syrup of the last cup of water, sugar, cinnamon and cinnamon sticks and then added it to the rice water. It seemed to help the sugar and cinnamon mix better that way. Oh and don't throw out the rice. It's perfect for Creamy Rice pudding (recipe on this site)

Wonderful!! I did, however, follow a few reviewers suggestions and I also changed the servings to 10 since I needed a larger amount for a party. I found that the flavor was better the longer it sat, so I served it the following day. There was a lot of undissolved cinnamon, but I found the perfect solution to be straining the entire mixture through a coffee filter just before serving. Because it sat overnight, the flavor was still full, but you did not get mouth-fulls of undissolved cinnamon with each sip. What I consider the perfect measurements for 10 servings is the following: 1-2/3c uncooked white long-grain rice; 8c water; 1/2c sugar; 1-1/2t ground cinnamon; 2c milk; 3/4c+2T sweetened condensed milk; 2-1/2t vanilla extract. Fabulous!!

My family loves horchata and we drink it all the time in restaurants so I was excited about making it at home. However, I'm not really thrilled with how it turned out. I only used a half a cup of sugar and it was still really sweet, like horchata is sapposed to be. The problem with this recipe is the cinnamon. The drink turns out brown, not white like in the picture. And I had to skim a lot of cinnamon off the top because it wouldn't blend in. The taste was pretty much right on, just a little more watery then we're used to. I'm going to experiment with boiling cinnamon sticks in the water and then blending it with the rice.

This went over really well with my coworkers. It is relatively simple, and I made with part cream to add a slightly thicker texture since I use skim milk.
I also used a cloth tea bag for the cinnamon so that the spices wouldn't change the color or texture of the drink.

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

**Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-)Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.